Crises Ancient & Modern

Dear John,

 

Work today was filled with difficulties ancient and modern. So now I'm thinking about that venerable reference book, "Hymns Ancient and Modern," that I met when I took Mary's hymnology class. That book is a treasure.

 

Anyway, work today. The ancient crisis actually happened yesterday. The closers stayed late because LaGrange was running behind getting our work processed. Just when they were done and ready to go home, somebody spotted a bat flying around. So Frank grabbed a broom and chased it. For almost an hour. This morning I suggested that, if it happens again, he leave and come back around 7:00 the next morning. This time of year, when we're ready to close, the bats are ready to start their day. By the next morning, the creature will be hanging somewhere sound asleep. It will be easy to catch it and take it outside. And everybody freaked out at the thought of leaving a bat in the bank overnight. It's not like it's going to open the vault and help itself. I don't get it.

 

The modern crisis started last night and continued this morning. The computers were running slow by the end of the day yesterday so our IT people had them worked on overnight. That made it much worse, and all the branches lost internet connection this morning. That sounds like no big deal, except that all of our transactions happen over the internet. That's how we connect with the central account records and information. We all went to our back-up program, which allows transactions but can't access information. We can't check balances, look up account numbers, open new accounts, and a myriad of things we do all the time. Thankfully, it was only down for about an hour and it was at a slower time of day.

 

And the day was not slow - it was very busy for a Wednesday. Yesterday I had 125 transactions; today I had 132. That's one transaction every 3.75 minutes. And when you figure in how long it takes to count and process the average merchant deposit and the fact that I process all of those, I had a very busy day. I enjoyed it and it went by quite quickly. But I do believe I'm ready for my day off tomorrow.

 

It's 10:30 now, so we all need to be getting to sleep. The windows are open and there's a cool breeze out of the north. I mowed after work and my hair is still wet; I'll put a towel on the pillow and it will be dry by morning. Jethro is right beside me and the cats are in windowsills around the house. The night sounds and smells are wonderful. As usual, all that's missing is you.

 

Adore you,

Joan.